24 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



GENERAL NOTES 



AMERICANS BUY BIG TRACT 



It was generally believed that some nego- 

 tiation, which has been going on for some 

 months for lands adjacent to the govern- 

 ment naval station at Cuantanamo, Oriente 

 Province, were instigated largely by those 

 representing the United States, that coun- 

 try, it was stated, being desirous of adding 

 to its territory at Guantanamo. The fol- 

 lowing story, however, taken from the 

 Nezv York Tribune, of December 22d, 

 shows that a private Amercian syndicate 

 has taken the lands. United States navy 

 officials deny positively any interest in any 

 land proposition. 



The Tribune story is as follows : 



"Through a deal just completed in this 

 city about seventy square miles of land 

 immediately adjacent to the United States 

 Naval Station at Guantanamo, Cuba, has 

 been purchased by a syndicate of Amer- 

 icans. The purchase price is put at about 

 $2,000,000. Included in the sale is Porto 

 Escondido — the Hidden Harbor — capable 

 of receiving vessels of the largest draft. 



"The property was owned by Colonel J. 

 Nicholas Jane, of the Cuban army, and 

 Miguel Cuevas, rich landowners, living at 

 Guantanamo. Colonel Jane has been in 

 this city for the last two weeks. Senor 

 Cuevas was represented by his brother, 

 Carlos, who had power of attorney to 

 complete the sale. Accompanying them 

 was a well-known Cuban attorney. 



"An international banking house will act 

 as fiscal agent for the transaction. A 

 well-known local firm of attorneys repre- 

 sented the American syndicate in the nego- 

 tiations. It is suggested that possibly the 

 tract might be desired by the United States 

 to extend its naval base, as apart from the 

 harbor it would give access to the potable 

 water of the Yateras River. 



"At the Navy Department, however, it 

 was said no such purchase was in the re- 

 motest contemplation. For the United 

 States to acquire the land it would be neces- 

 sary for the Cuban government to make a 

 formal purchase of the property and then 

 cede it to this country." 



Mr. William Jennings Bryan, on his way 

 to the United States from Jamaica, stopped 

 in Havana on January 1st for a few hours. 

 He later in the day visited President 

 Gomez. 



There is a movement being made in San- 

 tiago de Cuba to have the name changed 

 to that of "Ciudad Maceo," in honor of 

 Antonio Maceo. The matter is to be pro- 

 posed in the provincial council. 



TAXES IN CUBA 



^ There is no tax on uncultivated lands in 

 Cuba, and it is a very common thing to find 

 private landed estates, undeveloped, aggre- 

 gating as much as a quarter of a million 

 acres. There is a small tax on lands that 

 are cultivated and producing anything. 

 There is also a guild tax levied on any line 

 or trade of commercial business, propor- 

 tional to the amount of business done. The 

 government has received from the National 

 Lottery, which started business in Septem- 

 ber, 1909, revenue amounting to $4,087,- 

 165.68. There is another not inconsequen- 

 tial source of revenue which is derived 

 from a license on cock-fighting, as much 

 a national sport in Cuba as is the bull-fight 

 in Mexico. "In every precinct," says an 

 American long resident on the island, "there 

 is a cock-pit, which on every Saturday and 

 Sunday is filled to overflowing by the 

 lower classes. The admission fee is 10 

 to 25 cents, and the stakes sometimes as 

 high as $1,000 on each side. Ten per cent 

 of the whole, from the pot and entrance 

 fee, goes to the government, or to govern- 

 ment officials." 



THE NEW PALACE 



The contract for the building of the new 

 presidential palace on the site of the pres- 

 ent Villanueva railway station has been let 

 to a Mr. Eugenio Reinery for $1,117,000, 

 who promises to complete it within two 

 years. 



The other bidders were : Purdy & Hen- 

 derson. $1,321,865 ; Claudio Gonzalez & Co., 

 $980,000: General Contracting Co., $1,110,- 

 000; and Joaquin Chalons, $1,096,200. 



Work will begin at once. Gonzalez & Co. 

 want to know why their bid was turned 

 down, theirs being the lowest. They also 

 want to know why the contract was given 

 for over $1,000,000 when the bill providing 

 for the palace expressly states that it shall 

 cost less than this amount. 



The central portion of the Matanzas 

 Terminal Company's wharves at Dubrocq 

 collapsed January 2d, and 13 cars carry- 

 ing 1,800 bags of sugar went down in the 

 bay with the wrecked wharf, entailing a 

 loss of $20,000 for the sugar. No lives 

 were lost, although there were 38 men 

 working on the pier at the time. 



Oscar Hopkins, for ten years a member 

 of the American colony at Guayabal, Ha- 

 vana Province, where he owned an orange 

 grove, died on January 1st. 



